The Loveland Orchestra may not garner the name recognition or prestige of the Colorado Symphony, but its bassoonist says it also offers a personal experience that the bigger professional operation to Loveland's south simply can't match.

"It's more intimate for one thing," Elisabet De Vallée said. "You can get closer to the musicians than you can at the big performing arts center in Denver. And our musicians actually mill about with the audience at intermission and even provide the refreshments that the audience enjoys."

Then there are the prices.

Whereas tickets for a night at the Colorado Symphony start at around $15 or $20 and can go as high as $80 or $90, tickets for all Loveland Orchestra concerts are priced at $10 for adults and $5 for students. Those 12 and younger get in free.

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"I don't know a single orchestra up and down the Front Range whose ticket prices are low as this one," she said. "This group is committed to keeping prices low so anyone can attend."

The Loveland Orchestra also attempts to appeal to a broader audience by playing a mix of classical and popular selections, a practice that will continue with the recently announced 2018-2019 season.

That season, which will consist of seven concerts, kicks off on Sept. 14 and runs through May 3. All seven concerts will be held at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church located at 3429 N. Monroe Ave. Each concert will begin with a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m., followed by the music at 7:30 p.m.

Vallée said this year's concerts are "full of audience favorites." She said she knows that because the orchestra actually went to its audience and asked for their suggestions of what pieces they would like to see performed and put together its lineup based on their suggestions.

However, the shows she identified as highlights included the Sept. 14 show, which will include a performance of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's musical retelling of 1,001 Arabian Nights "Scheherazade," the free community sing along performance of George Frederic Handel's "Messiah" on Nov. 30, and the season-ending "Sounds from Stage and Screen" concert on May 3.

"That very last program of the season might be the one that is the most popular with the general public because it's going to have music from lots and lots of well-known movies and Broadway plays such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Phantom of the Opera," Vallée said.

The Oct. 26 "Haunted Harmonies" concert, which will include pieces with spooky undertones by Bethoven, Bach and other composers, will also feature an added seasonal twist as Vallée said the audience is invited to come to that show in costume for a costume contest. Members of the orchestra are also being asked to show up in costume, Vallée said.

The volunteer orchestra, Vallée said, is made up primarily of Loveland residents, some of whom have been playing in it for as long as 25 years However, a significant number of the musicians also come from Greeley and points in-between. A smaller number come from Fort Collins and the Denver metro area.

"That's actually unusual if you look at the make-up of most orchestras up and down the Front Range," she said. "If you look at the Fort Collins Symphony, for example, a lot of the members are from Denver, Boulder and other places."

The result is an experience that can be described as one of neighbors, Vallée said, with the conductor and musicians making themselves available to talk before the show.

"It's been that way since the founding music by your friends and neighbors for the local community," she said.